Prospective Students

Learning Support Program

Overview Of the Program

Since the late 1960s, Marist College has enrolled students with diverse
special educational needs, believing their similarities to other college
students to be greater than their differences.

In 1982, the Office of Accommodations and Accessibility formally began its Learning Support Program. Each participant in the Program receives a
complement of academic services that are designed to meet his or her
individual needs.

The Program focuses on the development and use of strategies that will
promote independence and personal success. To this end, each student
expected to serve as his or her own advocate in a continually increasing
fashion.

Each student is enrolled in credit-bearing courses and completes degree
requirements set forth for all students. Learning Disability Specialists
work closely with faculty and administration to assist the students.
Each individual is encouraged to openly discuss his or her learning needs with
appropriate faculty at the start of the semester. Specialists frequently
assist students in preparation for this meeting.

Participation in the Program is available to students on a continual basis
for as long as the Specialist and student mutually agree is necessary.
Students are expected to assume increasingly higher levels of responsibility
for their academic success and to function independently as soon as
possible beyond the freshman year.

Services Available

The Program emphasizes the development of compensatory strategies. Each
student is assigned to work one-on-one with a Learning Specialist*.
Typically, freshmen meet with their Specialist two sessions per week. While
the goals of each session must be individualized, typical sessions
concentrate on:

Improving writing skills

Note taking skills

Organization skills

Test-taking strategies

Time management skills

The Specialist will also establish a plan for necessary and appropriate
academic accommodations. There is no charge for these accommodations which
may include any of the following:

Adaptive testing procedures

Notetakers

Scribes

Alternative text

Use of adaptive equipment

Personal readers

*A program fee is charged only for the services of the Learning Specialist.